Seed dispersal syndromes in the rain forest of Chiloe: evidence for the importance of biotic dispersal in a temperate rain forest

Abstract

The dispersal syndromes of 72 species from the temperate rain forest of Chiloe were analysed and compared with data for other temperate forests in New Zealand and New Jersey, and for dry, moist and wet neotropical forests. In Chiloe, ornithochory was the predominant dispersal syndrome for species of each growth form (70% of trees, 59% of shrubs, and 72% of vines and epiphytes). Only among the emergent trees anemochory was the most frequent syndrome. Overall distributions of dispersal syndromes were similar in Chiloe and New Zealand. In these forests, ornithochory was found in c.70% and anemochory in 20-25% of species. Mammalochory was rare in Chiloe and absent in New Zealand; it was more prominent in all neotropical sites (22-34% of species). In proportion, avian-disseminated propagules were more represented among forest taxa in Chiloe and New Zealand (67-70% of species) than in the neotropics (35-53%). Deciduous forests of New Jersey showed similar proportions (c 33%) of mammalochory,